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Ultimaker has a long history of working closely with our users, and this has worked out really well for both sides. A particularly involved and knowledgeable user group can be found right here, in our community of 3D printing experts.
Someone who has been in the spotlight before because of his contributions is @Anders Olsson . If you think that name sounds familiar, you are probably thinking of the ‘Olsson Block’. The Olsson Block is a response to the hot end we developed for the Ultimaker 2 and was later officially integrated in the Ultimaker 2+. Anders didn't stop there and continued to develop a Ruby nozzle which is wear-resistant. Fast forward a few years later, and we have a Print Core CC Red. It was time I sat down with Anders again and talk about these ruby inserts.
- Anders Olsson during the Olsson Block campaign.
Q: Anders, who are you and how may people have heard about you?
A: I work as a Research Engineer at Uppsala University and I am the inventor of the Olsson Block for the Ultimaker 2+ series. Some people might also have heard of me printing boron carbide (link) composites for nuclear shielding. (Boron carbide is an extremely hard boron-carbon ceramic which falls just behind cubic boron nitride and diamond as one of the hardest known materials).
Q: With the Olsson Block you could swap nozzles within a few seconds. Why did you continue your research and develop a more expensive wear-resistant nozzle, when replacing a worn down nozzle is so fast and easy?
A: For some materials that may have been sufficient, but Boron Carbide is so abrasive, a brass nozzle can easily be destroyed in less than one print. Secondly, we wanted to prevent brass-contamination in the printed material in case we wanted to recycle it.
Q: How did a Ruby nozzle end up in a print core?
A: There is a type of enriched boron carbide which has much better performance than natural Boron carbide but it’s also much more expensive. By using the expensive material only in areas where it is really needed one can make components which has much better performance without becoming extremely and unnecessarily expensive. 3D printing - dual extrusion gives us these options. We really liked the reliability of the print cores and the quickest way to bring that reliability and the wear-resistance we needed together, was to make a prototype of a print core with a modified block to fit an Olsson Ruby nozzle.
- Print core CC Red shown at TCT show.
Q: Can you explain why you chose Ruby in the first place from all available options?
A: Ruby (Alumina/Corundum) is a great material. It is chemically stable, not toxic or dangerous if you somehow wear it down (which for example, Cemented Tungsten Carbide would be in our case). What you also have to look for is availability and consistency. Ruby was the hardest material that could reliably be sourced with the dimensions I wanted. A scale to quantify hardness is the ‘Knoop’ scale. To put Ruby in perspective of other materials with a Knoop value, Copper is 163, Ruby is 2100 and Diamond is 7000. There are not that many materials between Ruby and Diamond. Diamond was too expensive and not feasible as a solution.
Q: While using a Print Core CC Red, have you experienced any downsides with printing non-abrasive materials?
A: I personally haven’t seen any disadvantages using the Print Core CC Red for any materials. I’ve also tried other abrasive materials besides Boron Carbide which worked fine.
Q: Why is the Print Core CC Red 0.6mm?
A: Abrasive materials often have fibers in them for reinforcement. A 0.6mm diameter gives a good balance between printing speed and detail, while being large enough so it won’t clog due to the fibers some materials contain.
Q: Can you quantify how long a Print Core CC Red should last while processing abrasive materials?
A: So far we have not been able to detect any wear with any commercially available materials. We recently cut open a nozzle that had printed about 25kg of carbon fiber and it showed no measurable wear inside or on the Ruby.
To put things in perspective;
Brass nozzles will typically last: 0,3kg, Stainless nozzles: 1kg, Hardened steel: 3kg of common carbon filled materials before print quality will suffer badly.
- On these photo’s you can see that abrasive material not only wears out the nozzle diameter, but also shaves the brass from the outside shoulders.
There is an important side note though, before you might consider Ruby as indestructible: although it’s wear-resistant Ruby can also be fragile. A user should avoid hitting it with hard objects and avoid using a flame cleaning the nozzle, because brass easily deforms when overheated and quick temperature changes stresses the ruby.
Q: For some readers, abrasive materials may be a new subject matter. Can you explain what it is that makes a material abrasive when you are not sure which print core to use?
A: Materials which are hard in a solid piece (like metals, ceramics and carbon fibers) will generally also wear down the nozzle. In general one should assume that any filament with a filler will cause more wear on the nozzle, except if the filler is obviously much softer than brass (like wood). Example: Glow in the dark filament has a ceramic powder to make it glow. Which makes it abrasive.
Q: What are you using the Print core CC Red for yourself at the moment?
A: Apart from printing with Boron carbide, we’re now exploring other fillers which stops different types of radiation, which are magnetic, which are electrically conductive or which can be fired into a ceramic object after being printed. Part of the goal is to combine several properties in the same object in three dimensions, which can only really be done with a dual material printer like Ultimaker 3 or Ultimaker S5. None of these materials can reliably be printed without a Print core CC Red.
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And that concludes my interview with Anders Olsson. I hope this has been an interesting read and you have discovered something new about the Print core CC Red. Since Ultimaker products were never compatible with highly abrasive materials, how to work with them may be a new subject for some of you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to post them below!
More questions about abrasive materials?
We'll host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) soon with 2 experts of Owens Corning (the manufacturer of XSTRAND) on 31st of October. Mark it in your agenda ?
And finally, in just a few weeks the print cores will be available at your local reseller. If you want to be kept up to date and receive an email when it becomes available, please follow the link below and be the first to get one!
Keep me updated about the Print Core CC Red

Here are my final bunch of photos, I'm moving on now, hopefully a real nice print coming soon, but I've been fiddling around with the sculpt for days now constantly changing it around, and I'm giving plating a break for a while, maybe, lol. maybe one last plate.

The only reason for us to use boron carbide is that we want to absorb neutrons and boron (the 10 isotope) has very good properties for this.
Boron Carbide is a chemically stable reasonably priced ceramic powder with high boron content (four boron atoms and one carbon atom).
While a softer material with high boron content would have been preferable, there are no such options in a reasonable price range.
Other uses is for example as a grinding powder, which explains why it eats 3D printer nozzles ?
That is the basic reason behind the Olsson block and the Olsson Ruby nozzle, summed up in a few sentences ?
If you are interested in further reading, we have published much of our work in an open access article: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/aa694e
(Check out the Supplementary Data too for information about the Olsson block and other stuff)
There is currently no commercial production of boron carbide filament but there might be in the future.
Be ware though, if you even come across it, that boron carbide is one of few materials which is harder than ruby, so it will slowly wear the ruby.

Quick projects in the works.
Uncle Creepy Bookshelves. Books are printed separately to facilitate painting them and the bookshelves itself.
They all fit perfectly. Base is not finished. This was just a quick print to stand things on to check for balance and such even though they will be locked down with glue. So far so good. Walls will be about 14" tall with the floor extended to a 10" x 10" base.
Steampunk version of the "Proteus" from 'Fantastic Voyage.' I am designing the interior because I figured how to make clear windows. So, this was just a test print to see how it felt in my hands....And, BTW, the lines in the windows are when my fans stopped working efficiently...so, yeah, little things can have a big impact. But will work out fine once I make the master with the interior parts.
This is where the interior is at this time. This is just a 3D rendering of my halting progress as I take care of other things. The single seat chairs are just placeholders until a make more period appropriate set of chairs more in line with the observation couch.
This is the ship that I a started to play with making clear windows. So far so good. But, this test model got a bit too hot in the cleaning bath and is a bit warped in a few areas, but the windows and other parts that need lights showing through work just fine. Making the cockpit for this thing.
Just slammed this together in about 2.5 hours just for funsies.

Bye bye soft and hello shiny lol! However the soft coating felt really nice like silk or satin or something, very smooth to the touch!
I have 2 more skulls to play with,
The shinyness really brings out the subtle imperfections! This is because im not dipping and only light brushing trying to maintain maximum detail. A long dip would sort out most layer lines but at the cost of sharp corners and subtle cavitities.gonna try a blue patina one next. They always look sexy but decay real fast if not sealed right!!! I may have to do a terminator skull next...

I am finally getting around to posting this. We bought our UM3E about 12 months ago. The first time I ran a print over night, the filament jumped over the edge of the spool, got bound up around the spool post, and caused the print to fail (in the last 60 minutes of the 20 hour print job). I was very frustrated.
So I designed a simple add-on to prevent this from happening again. The factory equipment restrains the filament at one point around the spool, leaving it free to jump the spool around the rest of spool. To fix this, I created two additional restraint arms. To make sure it fit correctly to the existing components, I downloaded the part CAD files from Ultimaker. It fits over the spool post, and positively locks into place against the existing retainer arm (to prevent it from rotating with the spool). When changing spools, you just sit the retainer on the side of the spool, and load it normally. A little turn ensures it is locked in.

It's been a while ?
I made this little house (as well a terrace houses) on a platform to sell. I painted the house using a textured spray paint then handpainted the small details. Sealed it off with a clear car spray (I know it's OTT ? )
The base is 3D printed then vacuum formed into a mould. I used bog standard cement but I think I will use some jesmonite....
I like it clean(ish) like this and I can't really bring myself to make it look Christmassy.... ?

Just did a quick test... used a WeMo powerplug to measure actual usage.
Standby, about 22W
Heatup from cold, around 401 W (just a few minutes)
When bed is on temp, and heating nozzles; +/- 230/240 W
During printing; fluctuates around 160/170 W
Did the test using the normal PLA profile, meaning BED temp 60C, in at room temperature (20c)
Obviously it wil be influenced by the ambient temperature, if you put the machine in a cold shed it will use more power.
Also if you print some material like ABS with a higher Bed temp, it will draw more power.
And ofc multi vs single extrusion will have a effect, but my gut feeling says the bed temperature is the biggest chunk.

This was a new version of plating i was trying out. Not so happy as it took much longer to polish up and i had to use a dremmel as i got bored of hand polishing. Thick coat but coarse. I shouldnt get carried away with the voltage....

Heres modesty from my new solution...hmm interesting texture. Again smashed the current on this and a few areas didnt get done. It layed about for too long me thinks. And i know i went too cheap on the coating hence the missed spots!! This face looks to wrong to me now....soon we shall see what your 'cover' covers. All will be uncovered!

Three thousand seven hundred twenty to one!
Sorry... ?
And you're right, I read a bit too fast, adhesion wouldn't fail in what you describe.
@yellowshark I've never tried the 'print on by one' feature but, in the case at hand, I don't see how it would be possible to print 10 of such tall objects because the axles would hit what you previously printed. Plus the size of the printhead on a UM3, while smaller than the UM3E, would probably not allow the printing of so many objects together anyway.

Abrasive materials.
It's a relatively new subject for most with the Ultimaker S5 and the (soon to be released) print core CC Red. Adding to that, Ultimaker is working close to various material manufacturers to include validated profiles from their materials into Ultimaker Cura as well.
So, as a user, you are can rely on the same reliability as when you use Ultimaker materials, but with possibly enhanced properties.
Some of these enhanced properties come from the additives that are being added to these materials. For example, XSTRAND™ is a Nylon material but it also has 30% glass fibers added to it which make it incredibly strong!
Because of these new materials and their enhanced properties I've arranged for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with 2 experts from Owens Corning who can tell you all about it.
Adam Davis; additive engineer with a lot of experience with 3D printing (especially XSTRAND™)
Emmanuel Vaquant; senior innovation leader and knows all about the material properties of XSTRAND™
So do you have any questions about the fibers that are added to XSTRAND, other materials they have which might be useful for a project you are working on or how you can create the strongest 3D print possible, make sure to check in with us on October 31st at 4pm (CEST) / 10am (EDT)
If you already have any questions you want to ask, feel free to post them below! We'll start answering on October 31st ?
If you are not familiar with the concept, during an ‘AMA/Ask Me Anything’ someone steps forward for around an hour or so to answer any question you fire. Usually, this person has a specific level of expertise or story which is interesting to know more about. But don't let this limit your questions ?

Good thing is that the Swedish have a solution for (almost) anything. ?
UM3 users can e.g. get a @bondtech DDG Feeder set for the UM3 which is a drop-in replacement with a hardened and coated steel gear that grabs the filament from both sides and is designed for regular usage of abrasive materials.

This is really hard for me to market. How do you propose to immortalise your loved one's face before it's too late?
Anyway, scanned and edited faces then sent it off to be printed. I still haven't mustered up the courage to use my metal clay to make these as the clay is too expensive....
PS. I still haven't solved the problem of a squished nose tip with the Ultimaker.

This is working profiles for AA/AA cores and AA/BB cores. 0.4mm btw
Download the attached file and unzip.
Open Simplify3D, go to File > Import FFF Profile, and navigate to the saved profile. This will import the settings into the software.
To start using these new settings, click Edit Process Settings, and the choose the new entry at the very bottom of the Select Profile drop down list.
After creating your .gcode file, import the gcode into Ultimaker Cura then click save. This will create your UFP file which can be printed on the S5.
Simplify3D_S5.zip

Thank you SandervG
Your well thought out, informative, and supportive reply is exactly what I anticipated and frankly; one of the primary reasons that I became an Ultimaker customer as it makes clear that as a team; Ultimaker “cares”.
As I have shared many times; I think the S5 is a great printer that simply needs to have the final stages of products solicitations implemented. I have every reason to believe that this will happen as evidenced by your notice of the upcoming firmware release; this is wonderful.
I remain happy with my decision to purchase the S5 and am excited to see the printers features and attributes continue to unfold.
Thus far the S5 has produced numerous stunning prints most of which have been multiday prints using PVA; many of which truly amaze me.
Yes I have made clear my investment in the S5 printer but not as the means to share concern but rather to make clear my commitment to Ultimaker.
I recommend the Ultimaker printers and highly recommend the S5 in particular because of the features exclusive to it at this time.
Thank you again SandervG as well as the Ultimaker Team; stay focused and keep up the good work.
Takes care.

A cause for a memory leak in both OctoPrint Connection plugin and Cura Connect has been identified. I have created a workaround for OctoPrintPlugin. If my workaround works without (too many) sideeffects, it can also be applied to Cura Connect (with some more development work).
A testing version of OctoPrintPlugin with the workaround can be downloaded here: http://files.fieldofview.com/cura/OctoPrintPlugin-v5-2018-10-25T13_58_45Z.curapackage
After downloading, drop the file into a running Cura application and restart Cura.
It would be nice to hear if this fixes the memory leak for you when using the OctoPrint Connection plugin. If it does, I will release this version via the Toolbox.
NB: the fixed OctoPrintPlugin will not change stability or memory issues with Cura Connect or any other part of Cura, except the OctoPrint integration.

I will try to explain the behavior we can see here.
First, PVA and the BB print core with its different inner shape, tends to drip more than PLA and the AA print core.
And when one layer has finished and the head moves to the prime tower a retract happens. But a retract don't mean that the nozzle stops immediately to extrude material. So the filament will be pulled back, but there is still some melted material in the nozzle and this material drips out, resulting in those strings.